EVERTON began contract negotiations with Michael Ball this week. Fans hoping for an early resolution should be aware that nothing is simple in football these days.

EVERTON began contract negotiations with Michael Ball this week. Fans hoping for an early resolution should be aware that nothing is simple in football these days.

For starters players have a complete grasp on what their team mates earn. After failing to tempt Francis Jeffers with a record contract offer, the Blues appeared to leak Kevin Campbell's new contract details.

Presumably, this was to signal to the fans that when a player shows a real commitment to the club and he is a key figure, they will show the ambition to keep him.

Unfortunately, this can have a snowball effect with other players in line using the latest deal as a marker for their own negotiations, regardless of their experience or age.

You can rest assured that Ball's advisers will be looking at the reported #7.5m earning potential of Campbell and arguing that their client, an up-and-coming England international, deserves at least parity.

But this might involve doubling or even trebling his existing salary as a young man who has come up through the ranks. You can see how the vicious circle begins that cripples some clubs and has certainly had a major impact on Everton's finances.

In the real world of business, employees look at the cost of living and the first challenge is to match that. Naturally, they try to improve on it.

In the world of football, it's more a case of finding out what the top earner at the club is on and demanding equality. Players at the end of their contract do this because they know that any other interested party will not have to pay a transfer fee and will therefore be able to up the ante on the salary front.

But the club simply trying to keep a player finds itself in the uncomfortable position of either wrecking its existing salary structure to meet the demands or losing out. And every time, they improve their offer, there is a club on the outside able to conjure up even more because they do not have to fork out a multi-million pound transfer fee.

When I think about this modern Ball, it reminds me of the other one my old team mate Alan.

We all knew that he was on a better contract, but we did not know how much more. The attitude in the dressing room was that he was worth it. Alan had played for England in a World Cup Final. He was an established international. He deserved to be paid more. We were happy with what we were getting.

I wasn't saying: "It's Ball, Harvey and Kendall." We are all putting the same in. We should all get paid the same.

When I used to deal with young players as a manager and it came to a contract offer, I would naturally try and improve on their previous deal, but base it on many factors including age, potential, experience and my view of their ability.

Naturally, this is all down to opinion. At times, to secure that individual, you would find yourself offering him a better deal than some of the others. For obvious reasons, I would ask for the offer to be kept confidential.

The next day, you could guarantee that another individual would be knocking on your door, telling you the ins and outs of that private contract. As I said, this always happens these days as agents work together.

I'm not suggesting that Michael Ball is not worth a substantial pay increase. Everton must do their level best to keep him.

But don't expect the negotiations to be simple and straightforward, just because Bally is a real Blue.

The negotiations will be long and tough with no guarantees. It's the way of the modern football world.

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Difference between a coach and a manager>

THE Steve McLaren situation must be bemusing all Manchester United fans. It was impossible to question his move from Derby County to United. That was a definitive step up.

But they will be asking how he could leave Old Trafford for a smaller club, especially at the end of a Championship-winning season.

Maybe he wants more responsibility and is frustrated that United are not considering him as a future manager. Maybe he actually believes that when Sir Alex Ferguson leaves at the end of next season, the new boss will automatically bring in his own right hand man.

It will be interesting to see how it works out, especially because coaching and managing at the highest level require vastly different qualities.

It's one thing cutting your teeth lower down where the pressure is not so intense. But if McLaren does pursue the managerial route, he will find it a lot different from the coaching role he has been used to.

I've heard that at United he has been spending a lot of time working on the psychological side with the players on the fringe, rather than concentrating on those who are playing.

At Derby he was getting on with the coaching of the team itself. I've related the story about how he wanted to bring Paulo Wanchope back for some extra work in the afternoon because he felt the other players did not know what he was going to do in the penalty area.

Manager Jim Smith said: "Just give him the day off. If we don't know what he is going to do, neither will the opposition."

It summed up the different mentality between boss and the coach. I'll be watching the developments with special interest.